Cerulean Sins

[Deleted]

Willie McCoy had been a jerk before he died. Being dead didn't change that. He sat across from Greta, wearing a loud plaid sport jacket. The polyester pants were primary Crayola green. His short black hair was slicked back from a thin triangular face. He had always reminded her of a bit player in a gangster movie. The kind that sells information, runs errands, and is expendable.
Of course now that Willie was a vampire, the expendable part didn't count anymore. But he was still selling information and running errands. No, death hadn't changed him much. but just in case, she avoided looking directly into his eyes. it was standard policy for dealing with vampires. He was a slime bucket, but now he was an undead slime bucket. It was a new category for her.
We sat in the quiet air-conditioned hush of my office. The powder blue walls, which Bert, my boss, thought would be soothing, made the room feel cool.
"Mind if I smoke?"He asked
"Yes," She said, "I do."
"Damn, you aren't gonna make this easy, are you?"
She looked directly at him for a moment. His eyes were still brown. He caught her looking and she looked down at her desk.
Willie laughed, a wheezing snicker of a sound. The laugh hadn't changed. "Geez, I love it. You're afraid of me."
"Not afraid, just cautious." She replied
"You don't have to admit it. I can smell the fear on you, almost like somethin' touching my face, my brain. You're afraid of me 'cause I'm a vampire."
Greta shrugged; what could she say? How do you lie to someone who can smell your fear?
"Why are you here, Willie?"She asked.
"About time we get right down to business." He teased.
Greta sighed. She was going to kill Bert for this. All he cared about was how much money he was getting out of something.
"Someones killing vampires all over the city. And not the weak ones. The older powerful ones. The master wants you to investigate these killings. We aren't killed that easily Greta. You of all should know that." He said.
She burst out into laughter. Her eyes began to tear up she was laughing so hard. They started roll down her cheeks. Willie started to snarl a little. She started to calm down a little bit.
"You want ME? The executioner to investigate why someones killing your vampires? God Willie I knew you were stupid but not this stupid." She said.
She was still giggling a little.
He got up and started to head for the door.
"She isn't going to like this." He said.
And just as he came he left as fast as he could.
Greta could care less if someone was killing old powerful vampires. It just made her job 100 times easier.
She had one more client tonight. Hopefully Bert didn't schedule anymore dead beings.

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Balam Xbalanque was currently not a man.

Or, rather, he certainly didn't look like one. It was his custom to peruse the city as a bird, in his raven form, one of four shapes this old shifter could take.

And right now, he'd come across a building he'd never seen before. It looked like offices, but it was a bit old, very Gotham-city, with character in the facade but no real sign denoting it's purpose. Thus, the presence of a half-open window was a treat that the curious pirate-shifter simply couldn't pass up.

Silent black wings, quite dextrous things in the air, brought the raven right up and through the window, which happened not to be screened, and into a small, empty office sort of room. Or, well-- perhaps it was a waiting room. He wasn't quite sure, the dark was falling and no one had turned the lights on in there quite yet.

Luckily, he'd a shape that saw well in the dark. The raven became a jaguar to touch down on the soft carpet, making only the vaguest 'thump' as padded paws met a worn persian rug. A sensitive nose took in the scents of the place, and Balam immediately identified a woman in the next room over, by the soap and perfume that someone like a cat could smell. He padded closer to the door, beautiful eyes gleaming in the half-light, before becoming a man to rap on the door.

He knocked, yes, but then basically let himself in before anyone answered. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say to this woman, whoever she was, but the pirate sure hoped she was a lovely thing-- he'd gotten somewhat lonely in the past few days.

Dark, heavy-lidded eyes surveyed the room under a mop of coffee-brown hair as the door swung open, a large, ravenesque nose leading the man into the place. There was a desk and chairs, and other typical office items, and most interesting of all-- a very lovely woman, alone, in a chair. The pirate, decked out in a rather eclectic ensemble, a ratty uniform coat over an old t-shirt emblazoned with the logo of some Finnish restaurant, surprisingly clean black dress-pants and a long red linen scarf.

And yet still, he looked quite good.

Perhaps it was just in his carriage, the way the lithe, willowy fellow held himself in that near-predatory way, the intense look that seemed permanently affixed to his face despite whatever other emotion was there.

He was smiling now, a very nice, unassuming smile as he strode easily into the room, with all the nonchalance of a cat. "Lovely evening, hm?" He seemed as if he was supposed to be there, as though he knew exactly what he was doing. He enjoyed winging situations like this, figuring out what was going on as he went.

Perhaps something very good would come of the night...

[Deleted]

She was doing some paper work. She was expecting a client when she felt a brush of another brain appear. She looked up from her paper work and there was a man in her doorway. She was kneading at the feel of the other brain. She knew the feel of it pretty well.
"What do you want shifter?"She asked.
Greta wasn't to kind to the supernatural community. But shifters she was nicer to than the others. They were the most humanoid species of them all.
"Are you here on Animators Inc. business or RPIT?"She asked.
RPIT, Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. Other wise known as The Spook Squad.

Her soft hazel eyes scanned the man. He was devilishly handsome. In other words, just another nice face to look at for Greta.

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Balam slipped himself into an office chair on the other side of her desk, the door closing softly just after he passed through it. The woman on the other side was quite unexpectedly gorgeous, her eyes catlike (a trait that revved the jaguar-shifter's engines) and curled hair dark and silky, a contrast to her beautifully pale skin. Actually, her skin was very pale indeed. Perhaps she was a vampire? He hoped not, they were often rather snooty towards shifters. Balam had always thought their aggression towards his people rather unwarranted, but shapeshifters were well known to be less violent than any of the other species. "D'you greet everyone like that? 'What do you want, insert-species-here?' Must be hard to find friends that way, if you do."

He smiled that killer, debonair smile at her, his eyes nearly crescent-moons when his cheeks were high like that. The man was draped in his seat, looking curiously around the office, apparently quite comfortable. He didn't respond to her second question immediately, regarding it as if it were no consequence. After a second of briefly studying her walls, he turned back to the woman, a questioning look on his face. "I'm here for Animators Inc. RPIT? I don't think I've heard of it, but I'm a little new in town."

[Deleted]

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh. A high heart filled joyous laugh. It was really quite nice to listen to. She saw that smile of his. It probably had melted the hearts of hundreds of women, wooing them. Making it easier to find themselves in his bed. She did admit it was a nice thing to look at. But just another perk on that little statue.
"Let me tell you a little secret of mine Cheshire Puss. I don't make many friends. Not because I can't. It's because I don't want to."She said.
She usually called the shifters Cheshire Puss. It was a fun little game for her.

She sighed heavily. This man was wasting her time, and most likely her money. Money was hard to make in these times.
"Sir if your not here on business then please leave. You are wasting my time and frankly your giving me a headache."She stated.
Her soft hazel eyes were looking into his. He was still smiling. Making his face an illusion of having crescent moons.
"If you need help finding anything around town look for a map or a phone book. They'll point you in the right direction."She said.